“Bruckner+” is the title of the cycle to be performed by Basel Symphony Orchestra in 2017/18 in Basel Minster. The foremost idea here is to bring together old music and new. This also picks up on the legacy of Basel conductor and patron Paul Sacher.

For the performance of Bruckner’s symphonies Basel Minster offers the best pre-requisites. The orchestra contrasts Bruckner’s works here with compositions of the 20th and 21st centuries. Three premieres are planned.

After serious illness Christobal Halffter began composing a concert for double bass and orchestra that, by his own accounts, represents a sort of act of liberation from melancholy. Halffter has a close personal relationship with Basel. For instance, Paul Sacher frequently conducted some of his compositions and incorporated the collection of his works into his foundation.

Furthermore, Georg Friedrich Haas is writing a trombone concert for the Basel-based trombonist Mike Svoboda. Dieter Ammann was commissioned with a new viola concert for Nils Mönkemeyer for September 2018.

The composition commissions that are supported by the EvS Music Foundation not only honor Paul Sacher’s legacy by bringing together Old and New Music. The sacred space of Basel Minster with its specific acoustics will also offer the audience very different, new perspectives in perception.